Hand hammers
Contents
- Introduction
- Did you know?
- Working with light hammers
- Working with heavy hammers
- Personal protective equipment
- Instruction, training and supervision
- Maintenance
1. Introduction
Hand hammers in metal work are generally used to strike pins, punches, rivets, cold chisels and 'dollies'. Light hammers are used for stamping job numbers on structural steel work or marking drill points on metal.
Heavy hammers, also known as sledgehammers, long - handle hammers or double - handed hammers, have hardened steel heads weighing up to 12 kg. Often they are used to hammer a pin into a hole while another person holds either the pin or the dolly to take the shock between two hard metal surfaces.
2. Did you know?
Hand hammers are among the top five causes of injury in the manufacturing metal products industry.
Most injuries are broken or badly bruised fingers and thumbs.
A badly broken finger or thumb can result in more than a month off work, and leave lasting disabilities.
Other injuries, especially to eyes, are caused by chips of metal flying off damaged hammer faces or burred punch and chisel heads.
A checklist had been developed to help toolbox meetings to identify workplace hazards and to reduce the risks.